ArticleBMC rheumatology2019
Relapse rates after elective discontinuation of anti-TNF therapy in rheumatoid arthritis: a meta-analysis and review of literature.
Article in BMC rheumatology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Review
- T-cell subset biomarkers across the rheumatoid arthritis disease continuum: from clinical utility to adoption in daily practice.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Safety of TNF-α inhibitors therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: an umbrella review.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Can We Successfully Discontinue Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Treatment in Children with Non-Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis? The Experience of a Tertiary Center.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Post-approval evidence generation: a shared responsibility for healthcare.Nature medicine · 2024Article
- Prevalence and predictors of sustained remission/low disease activity after discontinuation of induction or maintenance treatment with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors in rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic and scoping review.Arthritis research & therapy · 2023Article
- Innate immune memory in inflammatory arthritis.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2023Review
- The second decade of anti-TNF-a therapy in clinical practice: new lessons and future directions in the COVID-19 era.Rheumatology international · 2022Review
- Immunological memory in rheumatic inflammation - a roadblock to tolerance induction.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundInhibitors of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) are current mainstay of therapies for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The decision when to withdraw TNF-α inhibitors after achieving remission and the incidence of relapse rates with elective discontinuation are both important questions that demand intense survey in these patients. In this meta-analysis we aimed to estimate the magnitude of relapse rate after elective TNF-α inhibitor discontinuation in RA patients with remission.
methodsSystematic searches of PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library databases, grey literature (unpublished and ongoing trials) from the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform and the US National Institutes of Health were performed for studies reporting the outcomes of elective discontinuation of TNF-α inhibitor in RA patients after remission. Random-effects models for meta-analyses were conducted on extracted data.
resultsOut of 390 references screened, 16 RCTs were included. Meta-analysis of 1264 patient data revealed a relapse rate of 0.47 (95% CI 0.41-0.54). Sensitivity analysis showed that none of the studies had higher influence on the results.
conclusionsAlmost half of all the RA patients in remission relapse after elective TNF-α inhibitor discontinuation. This information might be useful when considering this management option with individual patients.
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Registered trials
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